- Father Irfan Sharif will be sentenced to at least 40 years in prison.
- Batul was also sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 33 years.
- Faisal Malik, Sara’s uncle, was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Sara Sharif’s Pakistani father and stepmother have been jailed for life for years of horrific “violence” and “despicable” abuse leading up to her murder.
The court heard the 10-year-old suffered “unimaginable pain, suffering and distress” as she was repeatedly beaten, burned, cut and restrained at the family home in Woking, Surrey.
Prosecutor Bill Emmeline Jones QC said Irfan Sharif, 42, and Benish Batul, 30, had twice tried to cover up the abuse by getting her out of school, and then fled to Pakistan after her death. were
On Tuesday, the couple were sentenced to life in prison for her murder, with Sharif receiving a minimum of 40 years and Batul 33 years.
Sarah’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, who was found guilty of causing or allowing her death, was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Chants of “yes” rang out from the public gallery but the defendants did not react and stood with their heads bowed in the dock after being sentenced.
In a televised sentencing at the Old Bailey, Justice Kavanagh said Sarah’s death was the culmination of “years of neglect, repeated assaults and what can only be described as torture”, particularly at the hands of Sharif. .
The senior judge said she was subjected to “abhorrent treatment” “in plain sight and in front of the rest of the family”.
He told Sharif: “You treated him like this because you felt it was your right to discipline him.
“Sarah was a brave, passionate and passionate child. She wasn’t as submissive as you wanted her to be. She stood by you.
“I have no doubt that your ego and sense of self-importance was inflated by the power you held over him and the rest of the family.”
Batul was prepared to “sacrifice” her stepdaughter, the judge said: “To put it bluntly, you didn’t care enough about Sarah to save her.”
He dismissed as “ridiculous” any suggestion that Malik was too busy on his phone and wearing earbuds to notice what was happening.
Justice Cavanagh said the case “starkly demonstrated” the dangers of home schooling for vulnerable children like Sarah and expressed concern over whether anything could have been done to prevent the tragedy.
Earlier, Sarah’s mother Olga Sharif, who appeared in court via video link, said Sarah was “always smiling” and had “her own unique character”.
In a victim impact statement, she said: “She is now an angel looking down on us from heaven, no longer suffering violence.
“To this day, I can’t understand how someone could be so mean to a child.
Addressing the defendants in the dock, she said: “You’re a scoundrel, even if that’s not enough of a word for you. I’d say you’re an executioner.”
Libby Clarke, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Sarah Sharif was a lively and happy 10-year-old whose life was tragically cut short by those who should have protected and cared for her.
“Today’s sentences reflect the heinousness and severity of their crimes, and while no sentence can bring Sarah back, we hope this verdict will bring some comfort to all those who served her. Knew and loved.”
Sarah was found dead in a bunk bed at her home in Woking, Surrey, after her father called police from Pakistan to admit he had beaten her “a lot”.
He suffered 71 “fresh” injuries, including 25 broken bones, iron burns on his lower back, scrape marks on his feet and human bites.
Sharif hit her with a cricket bat and an iron bar, choked her, and threw a mobile phone at her head, jurors heard.
Sarah was also bound with packaging tape and her head covered with a makeshift hood as they endured regular bouts of torture that left her in excruciating pain, jurors heard.
Even as she lay dying in Batul’s lap on August 8 last, taxi driver Sharif came home and beat her in the stomach for “pretending”.
The court was told that Batul had told her sister that Sharif would “beat the crap out of” her daughter but failed to do anything to stop him, even being called home from work to deliver the sentence.
Justice Kavanagh said the abuse began soon after Sarah moved in with her father and stepmother in 2019 and was treated as a “squeamish” and “like she was worthless”.
He told the court: “This poor child was forcefully beaten repeatedly.”
The violence became so “routine” that university student Malik failed to take action after he moved in with his family in December 2022.
By January 2023, Sarah began wearing a hijab to school to hide the scars.
Teachers noticed the marks on her face twice, and referred her to social services last March, but the case was dropped within days and Sarah was expelled from school the following month.
Within hours of Sara’s death, Sharif and Batul had booked a flight to Pakistan for the entire family, including their five siblings and half-siblings.
The defendants returned to the UK on 13 September 2023, leaving the children behind, and were detained within minutes of the flight landing at Gatwick Airport.
At his trial, Sharif initially blamed Batul for the violence before dramatically accepting “full responsibility”, leaving jurors in open mouths and tears.
He later appears to backtrack, denying that he cut or burned Sarah or covered her head in a hood.
Jurors heard that bite marks on Sarah’s arm and thigh did not match those of Sharif or Malik, and only Batul refused to give impressions of her teeth.
Sharif was granted custody in 2019, despite earlier arrests for child abuse allegations and alleged controlling behavior with ex-girlfriends.
Sara’s siblings and half-siblings live with their grandfather in Jhelum city. Efforts to return him to the UK are still ongoing.